A patient's temp was recorded at 7am, 10am,2pm and 8pm. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th readings we're 45 F,60 F and 65 F. If the average of the 4 readings was 52.25 F, what was the 3rd reading?

Answer 1

Here, the times of the readings really don't matter, just the fact that there were 4 of them. Since we know the average and three of the temperature readings, we can set up an equation to solve for the fourth:

When x represents the third temperature reading,

(45+60+x+65)/4=52.25

170+x=209

x=39

Therefore, the third reading was 39.

Answer 2

The times of the readings must be ignored. The problem does not ask for the patient's average temperature during the day, but for the 4th value that makes the average of the readings to be 52.25 °F.

Let the third reading be x.

Agerage = (sum of values) / (count of values)

( 45 + 60 + x + 65 ) / 4 = 52.25

x + 170 = 209

x = 39 °F